Chapter 417: The New Order In Academy I

"Since then... everything in the academy changed."

Lian was sitting on the bed across from him and said nothing.

The sudden change in Kain’s expression was enough for him to understand that whatever he was about to hear was probably much more than a simple fight between a few students.

Of course, he had expected it and could already guess some things about what had happened.

"How?" he then asked.

His friend stayed silent for a few seconds, as if he was deciding where to start the story.

In the end, he raised his head.

"When Roderick came back, he wasn’t the same Roderick you knew anymore, well, in terms of personality he was still the same trash... but not in terms of power."

"At least one thing stayed the same." Lian could not stop his short smile.

Of course, Roderick had already been a powerful Awakener from the beginning, a four-star class was no joke and combined with an S-Rank talent that was expected to be his, it was a very dangerous combination.

And because of that, he had always been noticed by the big guilds in the country.

"Unfortunately, anyway, when he came back he was level 18, it didn’t take long for him to complete his first evolution and after that he spent almost all his time between Base #3 and different missions."

"His family and the guild behind him also provided him with everything he needed; equipment, resources, artifacts... everything."

This part was not very surprising.

Roderick had already made it clear from the first day that his strength was not only because of his personal talent.

A rich family, connections, talent and then becoming a member of one of the strongest guilds in the country, he basically had everything.

But Kain had not finished yet.

"He also completed several big missions, not those missions where he just uses his sponsors’ names and lets others do the work, he actually fought himself."

Lian had no problem accepting this fact.

If Roderick was going to face him again, he preferred him to actually have become stronger instead of still being the same arrogant boy from nine months ago.

Of course, he still doubted that idiot could be considered "strong" against him.

"At first I thought that was the only problem, I thought he came back, became stronger, became a little more arrogant and would be more annoying than before and that was it."

"But that wasn’t the problem." The young Vorhelm looked at him and could guess the next words.

"No, the problem was that he knew how to gather other people around himself too, although saying that he knows how is wrong, most of them are more afraid of him, he is strong and he also has strong supporters behind him."

Lian quickly understood what Kain meant.

The small group that had surrounded Roderick nine months ago was no longer just a few students who praised him, during this time it had become something much bigger.

It was not something like an official association and not even a registered group with a clear name or symbol but almost everyone in the academy knew it by one simple name.

Roderick’s group.

It was more like a gang of bullies, with the difference that they were not really bullies in normal situations, at least not in the traditional way.

"First, a few people from the elite class joined him, then a few people from rich families, then hunting teams, healers and even a few older students."

"By force?" Lian slowly nodded, gathering this many people around yourself really required talent and ability.

Kain snorted.

"No. This is the part that makes what he is doing worse, he created an exclusive system, he doesn’t force you to join, but if you join, your growth speed becomes much faster."

"You can easily find a hunting team, good missions are introduced to you first, you can get equipment at better prices, resources are traded between the members and you can even get better places for training which are controlled by the guild behind him in the Ruined Realm."

"And he created a kind of unofficial structure where the higher your position in the group is, the more benefits you can use and since then, the people closest to him in the academy have been treated with a lot of respect."

Lian now understood better why the atmosphere of the academy had seemed strange when he entered.

That guy had basically turned the entire academy into his playground and he doubted Rindo would be happy about this when he returned.

Cassian, as the possible next president of the Student Council, and Seraphina, as the vice president of the Student Council, would also be angry about this.

But could they do anything? After all, no law had been broken.

Kain continued.

"In the beginning, if you weren’t part of his group, there was no problem, but recently, because almost a large part of the academy has joined his group, anyone who isn’t in that group is systematically and unwillingly screwed over."

"No one directly comes and says they will make your life miserable, everything just becomes a little harder; you can’t find the right team, some deals don’t reach you, some missions are already full before you even hear about them."

Considering that most Awakeners had two-star and three-star classes, they had no choice but to hunt in groups and basically did not have enough ability to hunt alone.

Because of that, not being able to find a team inside the academy caused them a lot of problems, they were forced to join teams where the age difference was very large and they could not agree with each other on many things at all.

"That’s smart." Lian narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You weren’t supposed to compliment him." Kain stared at him for a moment.

"I didn’t compliment him, I said it was smart."

Those two things were different to him.

Roderick might be someone he did not like, but at least he was apparently not stupid enough to maintain his control by openly beating students.

Real power did not always have to be obvious.

Sometimes it was enough for people to know that standing beside someone would make their lives easier and in the academy it was clear that if they chose him, their lives would become easier.

"Anyway, he didn’t do all of this alone, Elena is also with him and she has changed a lot too, she completed her first evolution and the last time her level became public, it was 31."

"Good." Lian only nodded.

"That’s all?"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"I don’t know, something. After all, you two had a past." Kain shrugged.

"Exactly, the key word is past." Lian said calmly.

Kain studied his face for a few more moments.

Then he gave a small smirk.

"Okay, okay, apparently you really got over her."

The young Vorhelm did not answer, because there was nothing else to say, whatever Elena had done during the past nine months was no longer an important part of his life.

"But you didn’t explain why you became isolated."

Kain stayed silent for a moment and then his expression changed slightly.

"And my story with Roderick started somewhere else."

"At first he didn’t even have a problem with me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he even asked me to join his group."

"What did he offer?"

"Almost everything, a fixed hunting team, help getting resources that could give me stats, equipment at a discount, a bigger share from group missions and a good position among his people." Kain started counting them.

"That was a tempting offer." Lian laughed loudly.

"Very."

"So why did you refuse?"

"I didn’t like his face. I only follow someone who is more handsome than me." Kain answered without the slightest pause.

"That’s a strong reason." The young Vorhelm stared at him with a completely serious expression for a few seconds and then nodded.

"Thank you." he said with satisfaction and pushed his chest out slightly.

The two stayed silent for a few seconds.

"Enough joking, what was the real reason?"

"Apart from the fact that the bastard had dared to make fun of you a few times in the past and had shown hostility toward you, I didn’t want to be under him, I didn’t have a good feeling about him from the beginning, people like him, when they give you something, expect you to give back several times more one day."

Lian nodded, this explanation sounded more like the Kain he knew.

"I refused him and nothing special happened at that time either, I thought it was over."

But it was not over.

About one month later, the rumors started.

That the people inside the Special Area were trapped, that they had probably failed and that maybe no one would come back alive.

The Federation had announced several times that such claims had no reliable basis and that exploring a Special Area could take months.

But a rumor did not need truth to survive, it only needed fear and they had already been inside for more than a month and there was still no news from them.

These kinds of rumors were always spread from some baseless sources during times like this and some idiots believed them.

"One day we were in the training hall and Darren was there with a few other people."

Lian could almost guess the rest of the story.

"They started talking about you."

Kain stayed silent for a few seconds and then copied a mocking voice.

"Darren said: ’Could that bastard really be dead? Maybe God finally took revenge for me.’"

Lian’s eyes narrowed slightly, he was not angry, he did not get angry at the words of a clown, it was more that Darren’s belief that God would directly interfere to take revenge for a defeat at the academy was really ridiculous.

"I ignored him, I really had no intention of getting into a fight but then one of the people beside him said that you probably ran away the first time you saw real danger and died there."

"That was when I stood up."